1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a versatile dumbbell of the type commonly found in a fitness center to be used as a weight training device. The dumbbell is adapted to carry a set of interchangeable weight plates that are detachably connected to one another so that the gross weight of the dumbbell can be selectively and incrementally varied to fit a weight training program of the user.
2. Background Art
A dumbbell is a conventional weight training device that has long been used by body builders and others to improve their physical strength and appearance as part of a weight training or exercise program. Such a dumbbell typically includes a cylindrical gripping handle that carries a pair of weight plates at opposite ends thereof. In this regard, the weight plates are fixedly connected to the ends of the gripping handle. Should the user wish to increase the weight to be lifted, he must find an altogether different dumbbell. In other words, there is no way for the user to selectively adjust or progressively change the weight of a dumbbell to be used during a workout, such that the gross weight of each dumbbell remains the same at all times.
As a consequence of the foregoing, the fitness center or the user (should he elect to exercise at his home or office) must maintain many different dumbbells having characteristically different gross weights. Accordingly, the cost to acquire a variety of dumbbells and the space consumed as a result thereof are undesirably increased. Moreover, the user's ability to easily and quickly expand his personal weight training program is hampered by the requirement to have ready access to such different dumbbells.
Nevertheless, one commercially available adjustable weight dumbbell system is available by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,997. This patented dumbbell system is mechanically complicated. Therefore, users may experience confusion which may lead to mistakes when attempting to vary the gross weight of the dumbbell during a workout. In addition, the maximum weight that can be added to the dumbbell system is limited.
Hence, what is desirable is a mechanically simple and easy-to-use dumbbell weight training device having a series of interchangeable weight plates with correspondingly different weights that are adapted to be detachably connected to one another so that the gross weight of a single dumbbell may be selectively and progressively varied to conform to the weight training program of the user.